FTC celebrates 50 years and unveils new TV ad campaign
FTC celebrates 50 years and unveils new TV ad campaign
NAPLES, FL Celebrating its golden anniversary, the Florida Tomato Committee unveiled a series of four commercials that will mark the organization's first national television brand campaign for fresh Florida tomatoes during the 30th annual Joint Florida Tomato Conference held Sept. 6-11, here, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
The highlight of the FTCs organizational meeting, the commercials were shown as part of a presentation given by Samantha Winters, the committees director of education and promotion. "The objective of the ads is to increase consumer awareness and demand for fresh Florida tomatoes and to highlight their taste and health benefits," Ms. Winters told those assembled for the afternoon meeting held Sept. 8.
The commercials continue the FTCs latest media campaign, which was designed in part to help counteract some of the hype and hysteria created by last years season. Last seasons erratic pricing led tomatoes to become 'water cooler conversation because consumers were confused, especially when they were paying for tomatoes on their sandwiches, in restaurants, she said.
To combat this, Ms. Winters said that the FTC marketing subcommittee took a proactive role in order to let the consumer know that Florida tomatoes were available in abundant supply, and it needed a big event to do so. The result was a 1 million-pound truck tour, in which Florida tomatoes were delivered to food banks in 20 cities along the East Coast.
A video release of the tour was created and distributed to every broadcast station in the country. Ms. Winters said that the video was aired 220 times in 114 markets and reached an estimated 5.5 million viewers in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The video release was followed up with a national consumer print branding campaign in USA Today, which utilized four simple ads that Ms. Winters said were designed to cut through the clutter of other advertisements. The ads which show a ripe tomato on a white background with such catchy sayings as what hamburgers dream of and bag some Lycopene to go reached an estimated 22 million readers and helped form the basis for the committees new television commercials.
Designed by the SenaReider advertising agency, the four commercials will be 15 seconds in length, half the length of the normal television commercial, which Ms. Winters said allows for double media impressions. They show a red, ripe tomato on a white background and have a female voice-over of four different and catchy messages about the many health benefits of Florida tomatoes. At the end of the commercial, a black-and-white do not refrigerate stamp appears under the tomato.
The commercials, which will air on the Food Network, HGTV, Discovery Health Network, Discovery Home Network and the DIY Network, are scheduled to air a total of 595 times from Jan. 2-29 and March 13 through April 9. They are targeted at women aged 25 to 46 and will be shown during cooking shows and other active programming where people are doing something, not passive programming like a movie, Ms. Winters said.
We timed the commercials to be released around the New Year when people are receptive to changing their behavior, she said. Consumer research shows that health is a large motivator in purchasing tomatoes. We want retailers to get behind the commercials as they are a great purchase motivator and we see it as a win-win for them.
To that end, Ms. Winters said that she hopes the commercials will generate retail excitement, and the committee has developed a sales sheet that touts their benefits for retailers. It suggests additional ads in local papers and advertising circulars in conjunction with the commercials. She also suggested aggressive displays prior, during and after the eight-week campaign to help retailers best capitalize on the commercials.
In the produce industry, it is ultimately still the consumer who decides what is bought, and what is good for the consumer is good for the retailer, she said. We see the health message as the future and the key to the future of the market. This is an all-out concerted effort by our members to expand and take our message to the next level.
The FTC also continues to promote Florida tomatoes to retailers by having display and sales contests, as well as workshops on merchandising and handling. Ms. Winters said that it has been a banner year in market development for the committees export programs. The FTC continued its market-access program in Japan and Canada, and it has received increased Canadian ad support. The FTC is also continuing to explore the Japanese market. According to Ms. Winters, the Japanese have a new slicing technology that needs firm tomatoes such as those grown in Florida.
In the foodservice arena, Ms. Winters said that the FTC sponsored its 14th annual Best of the Best Florida Tomato Student Chef Contest, which saw competitors from 20 culinary schools in the United States and Canada. The winning recipe was a fresh Florida tomato-orange soup by Steven Barnhart of Kendall College in Evanston, IL.
We want rising chefs to think of Florida tomatoes, she said.
In other committee matters, Mary Duryea of the University of Floridas Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences presented a research report that introduced several new varieties of Florida tomatoes slated for release. They include the Escuderdo from Harris Moran, which is Fusarium-wilt race 1,2 and 3 resistant and comparable to Florida 47, Sun Guard and Floralina.
Dr. Duryea spoke highly of Florida 8153, which was scheduled for a fall 2005 release, possibly under the name Flora-Lee. This variety has a deep red color, high lycopene content and good flavor, she said. Two other varieties Florida 8363 and Florida 8365 are also scheduled to be released, but not until 2006, she added.
Outgoing Chairman David Murrah handed over the gavel to Dan McClure, the FTCs new chairman for the next two years. The committee also voted to maintain the regulations and marketing policy already in place, including a 2.5-cent per 25-pound box assessment for FTC members, and a one cent per 25-pound box assessment for members of the Florida Tomato Exchange and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.
The highlight of the FTCs organizational meeting, the commercials were shown as part of a presentation given by Samantha Winters, the committees director of education and promotion. "The objective of the ads is to increase consumer awareness and demand for fresh Florida tomatoes and to highlight their taste and health benefits," Ms. Winters told those assembled for the afternoon meeting held Sept. 8.
The commercials continue the FTCs latest media campaign, which was designed in part to help counteract some of the hype and hysteria created by last years season. Last seasons erratic pricing led tomatoes to become 'water cooler conversation because consumers were confused, especially when they were paying for tomatoes on their sandwiches, in restaurants, she said.
To combat this, Ms. Winters said that the FTC marketing subcommittee took a proactive role in order to let the consumer know that Florida tomatoes were available in abundant supply, and it needed a big event to do so. The result was a 1 million-pound truck tour, in which Florida tomatoes were delivered to food banks in 20 cities along the East Coast.
A video release of the tour was created and distributed to every broadcast station in the country. Ms. Winters said that the video was aired 220 times in 114 markets and reached an estimated 5.5 million viewers in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The video release was followed up with a national consumer print branding campaign in USA Today, which utilized four simple ads that Ms. Winters said were designed to cut through the clutter of other advertisements. The ads which show a ripe tomato on a white background with such catchy sayings as what hamburgers dream of and bag some Lycopene to go reached an estimated 22 million readers and helped form the basis for the committees new television commercials.
Designed by the SenaReider advertising agency, the four commercials will be 15 seconds in length, half the length of the normal television commercial, which Ms. Winters said allows for double media impressions. They show a red, ripe tomato on a white background and have a female voice-over of four different and catchy messages about the many health benefits of Florida tomatoes. At the end of the commercial, a black-and-white do not refrigerate stamp appears under the tomato.
The commercials, which will air on the Food Network, HGTV, Discovery Health Network, Discovery Home Network and the DIY Network, are scheduled to air a total of 595 times from Jan. 2-29 and March 13 through April 9. They are targeted at women aged 25 to 46 and will be shown during cooking shows and other active programming where people are doing something, not passive programming like a movie, Ms. Winters said.
We timed the commercials to be released around the New Year when people are receptive to changing their behavior, she said. Consumer research shows that health is a large motivator in purchasing tomatoes. We want retailers to get behind the commercials as they are a great purchase motivator and we see it as a win-win for them.
To that end, Ms. Winters said that she hopes the commercials will generate retail excitement, and the committee has developed a sales sheet that touts their benefits for retailers. It suggests additional ads in local papers and advertising circulars in conjunction with the commercials. She also suggested aggressive displays prior, during and after the eight-week campaign to help retailers best capitalize on the commercials.
In the produce industry, it is ultimately still the consumer who decides what is bought, and what is good for the consumer is good for the retailer, she said. We see the health message as the future and the key to the future of the market. This is an all-out concerted effort by our members to expand and take our message to the next level.
The FTC also continues to promote Florida tomatoes to retailers by having display and sales contests, as well as workshops on merchandising and handling. Ms. Winters said that it has been a banner year in market development for the committees export programs. The FTC continued its market-access program in Japan and Canada, and it has received increased Canadian ad support. The FTC is also continuing to explore the Japanese market. According to Ms. Winters, the Japanese have a new slicing technology that needs firm tomatoes such as those grown in Florida.
In the foodservice arena, Ms. Winters said that the FTC sponsored its 14th annual Best of the Best Florida Tomato Student Chef Contest, which saw competitors from 20 culinary schools in the United States and Canada. The winning recipe was a fresh Florida tomato-orange soup by Steven Barnhart of Kendall College in Evanston, IL.
We want rising chefs to think of Florida tomatoes, she said.
In other committee matters, Mary Duryea of the University of Floridas Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences presented a research report that introduced several new varieties of Florida tomatoes slated for release. They include the Escuderdo from Harris Moran, which is Fusarium-wilt race 1,2 and 3 resistant and comparable to Florida 47, Sun Guard and Floralina.
Dr. Duryea spoke highly of Florida 8153, which was scheduled for a fall 2005 release, possibly under the name Flora-Lee. This variety has a deep red color, high lycopene content and good flavor, she said. Two other varieties Florida 8363 and Florida 8365 are also scheduled to be released, but not until 2006, she added.
Outgoing Chairman David Murrah handed over the gavel to Dan McClure, the FTCs new chairman for the next two years. The committee also voted to maintain the regulations and marketing policy already in place, including a 2.5-cent per 25-pound box assessment for FTC members, and a one cent per 25-pound box assessment for members of the Florida Tomato Exchange and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.
